SeattleLisa wrote:Thank you Lovelies for the birthday wishes! And thank you SO MUCH Gina for the bicycling book!!!

You are so welcome, honey! I"m glad you took it in the spirit of inspiration that I sent it, and not nagging

SeattleLisa wrote:I had a great day- we had sunshine for the first time in what feels like WEEKS, I went cycling this morning for the first time in 2 months (YAY!), went to a dayspa for a heavenly facial, had oysters for dinner (yum!) and saw Breaking Dawn 2 for the 4th time. It's been my tradition every year since 2008 to see a Twi movie at the theater on my birthday (with the exception of Eclipse since that opened in June).

Dayum that sounds like fun! Yay for Lisa!!

SeattleLisa wrote:What is your goal for the next Challenge? My cycling has been so sparse this past year. 5.75 miles today was hard and I had to stop 3 times climbing this one hill that used to be easy. Hubby and I have a challenge to ride 23 miles on 2/10 to my favorite "Forks-looking" park on my favorite bike path. I want to be a cyclist again and I want to reinstate my old Bike Bragging Days. What do you want to manifest during the next Challenge?

Hmm this is good food for thought. I will think on this and get back to you...

how about you leave the orignial challenge but add in 4 week personal monthly goals to hit. Like....In January I plan on doing a total of 100 push ups.In February plan on walking/jogging 60 milesIn March i plan on only drinking 4 sodas/sugary drinks.

amynkansas wrote:how about you leave the orignial challenge but add in 4 week personal monthly goals to hit. Like....In January I plan on doing a total of 100 push ups.In February plan on walking/jogging 60 milesIn March i plan on only drinking 4 sodas/sugary drinks.

PSI am not a fan of the tea/dairy point...is there an alternative?

yes yes yes. I love this idea.I'm also not a big fan of the tea/dairy point - but have edited this in my personal Challenge notes to be calcium intake.

And the men who hold high places must be the ones to start to mould a new reality"My friends, love is better than anger, hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."

amynkansas wrote:how about you leave the orignial challenge but add in 4 week personal monthly goals to hit. Like....In January I plan on doing a total of 100 push ups.In February plan on walking/jogging 60 milesIn March i plan on only drinking 4 sodas/sugary drinks.

PSI am not a fan of the tea/dairy point...is there an alternative?

yes yes yes. I love this idea.I'm also not a big fan of the tea/dairy point - but have edited this in my personal Challenge notes to be calcium intake.

Same. Love this idea, too. Instead of the tea/dairy point I changed that to floss and take vitamins.

So, I just returned from the best birthday weekend of my life. After an amazing birthday on Friday, Hubby took me away for the weekend Saturday morning to Whidbey Island to an Inn I'd wanted to stay at for years and years but never had the chance until now. It was the most romantic place I've ever been and (fingers crossed) I'm hoping to return there in the spring.

Unfortunately I still ate WAY too much this weekend because the food was just SO good. I did eat less sugar, but just too many things overall, portions were too big. Hubby and I often go away about 1 weekend a month or so to visit friends/family down in Portland and we eat out just about every meal. I think that will be my January goal. To go away for the weekend and NOT overeat, not eat fast food, write down ALL my food and post it here in the Forum, including amounts. I *really* need to get a handle on eating during time away from home and not treating it like one big pig out.

I'm not sure why I thought of this today, but I thought it was a fitting video to sum up this year (even though it's 3 years old now), and to express t you all how dear to my heart you all are. Happy NY to you all, and I can't wait to share the coming years with you all too .

And the men who hold high places must be the ones to start to mould a new reality"My friends, love is better than anger, hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."

absolutelyvlc wrote:I'm not sure why I thought of this today, but I thought it was a fitting video to sum up this year (even though it's 3 years old now), and to express t you all how dear to my heart you all are. Happy NY to you all, and I can't wait to share the coming years with you all too .

Happy New Year to you All. I am feeling too lazy tonight to bundle up and walk down to the Space Needle to watch the fireworks blow from the top of it. If I crane my neck enough out my window, I can still see the Space Needle fireworks from my apartment. That is what we'll probably be doing tonight at midnight.

I've been journaling this evening, just kind of recapping the year. I was feeling negative and felt like pouring all that in my journal but I stopped myself. Instead I am writing about happy memories this year in my (very underused) journal. I'm only being positive and writing my gratitude, instead of my regrets.

I'm going to put my pj's on soon and pop in "Anchorman". I have a hankering that kind of humor tonight. I hope you're all having fun tonight, no matter what you're doing.

I just downloaded an app called Lose It!. I tried My Fitness Pal last year and ended up uninstalling it cuz it was kinda sterile and boring and not motivational at all IMO. I'm hoping Lose It! is better.Is anybody here using Lose It! that we can friend each other? Or is anyone interested in joining a group on it if I start one and invite you via email ?

And the men who hold high places must be the ones to start to mould a new reality"My friends, love is better than anger, hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."

i *may* have just bought 2 Marcus Foster tickets for the March 15th in KC. He is my DD's FAVORITE musician right now (and she is NOT a Twilight Fan ). She actaully asked if I would go with her (although it probably had SOMETHING to do with ME buying the tickets....but still )

So that will be a goal/date to inspire me to get my ass in gear. Marcus wouldn't want a FATTY in the front row, would he?

amynkansas wrote:i *may* have just bought 2 Marcus Foster tickets for the March 15th in KC. He is my DD's FAVORITE musician right now (and she is NOT a Twilight Fan ). She actaully asked if I would go with her (although it probably had SOMETHING to do with ME buying the tickets....but still )

So that will be a goal/date to inspire me to get my ass in gear. Marcus wouldn't want a FATTY in the front row, would he?

Didn't you once post an entire conversation you had with Marcus? I'm sure he'd love to see A LOVELY LOYAL fan like you in the front row, despite how you feel about the size of your ass!

Can I say I had a Bike Bragging Day today? It doesn't feel like bragging when it was a paltry 3 miles and I got my ass handed to me TWICE! AGAIN! on the last hill to get back home. I almost didn't go cycling, I just didn't feel like it but thank God for Hubby. He was very sweet but wouldn't take no for an answer. So in the end, it *was* really tough BUT I DID IT ANYWAY! Our next bike ride is planned for Sunday.

SeattleLisa wrote:Can I say I had a Bike Bragging Day today? It doesn't feel like bragging when it was a paltry 3 miles and I got my ass handed to me TWICE! AGAIN! on the last hill to get back home. I almost didn't go cycling, I just didn't feel like it but thank God for Hubby. He was very sweet but wouldn't take no for an answer. So in the end, it *was* really tough BUT I DID IT ANYWAY! Our next bike ride is planned for Sunday.

I have missed my BIKE BRAGGIN BITCH!!!!! Great job!!! I will get on the treadmill tomorrow. Text me to make sure I do it.

Happy New Year everyone! Loved reading everyone's posts and thoughts. Amy - are you saying you want to keep the challenge at 12 weeks? Cuz I'll do 12 but prefer 6 weeks... then again I do like the idea of having monthly challenges, would that be instead of weekly challenges? I kinda like that, some of the WC just didn't work for me but if I got to create a monthly challenge that would certainly inspire me more.

i am game for whatever the majority wants. 6 weeks.... 12 weeks.... doesn't matter to me. I can change the goals to be for one week, two weeks or three weeks. I guess we need to get the "paper work" aka spread sheet, to reflect the length though, soon. So let us know what you think.

Also if you think of a weekly challenge you want to be included or NOT included, speak now. Of course personalizing the challenge to your needs is always encouraged but mixing things up a bit can't hurt...so share your ideas.

So basically they say that if all 4.1 million of their subscribers committed to doing just 5 acts of random kindness that would amount to over 20 million acts of kindness in a single month. It's just simple math, but when I read it in actual numbers it kinda struck me. So I joined. (plus the Lise Watier Foundation - that's a makeup company here, not sure if they are elsewhere in the world too - will donate $100 to The Canadian Womens' Foundation for each person that signs up which is awesome).They say the website is kindcycle.com - but that doesn't seem to work, so you can just follow the link above if you want to commit, or I was thinking we could just do that as a WC challenge - to commit to X number of good deeds. And to share here. The power of something as simple as buying a coffee for a coworker or opening a door for someone is much bigger than we think. I think.

Anyway, that's just an idea.

PS - happy new year everyone!

And the men who hold high places must be the ones to start to mould a new reality"My friends, love is better than anger, hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."

absolutelyvlc wrote:I just downloaded an app called Lose It!. I tried My Fitness Pal last year and ended up uninstalling it cuz it was kinda sterile and boring and not motivational at all IMO. I'm hoping Lose It! is better.Is anybody here using Lose It! that we can friend each other? Or is anyone interested in joining a group on it if I start one and invite you via email ?

I use Lose It! And it's great, I love how customizable it is. I'll be your buddy! I'll admit I am only planning on using it to track my weight and exercise, as I find that actually writing my food intake is better for me since I can make a note of all sorts of other things (times, how I'm feeling, etc). If you don't have my email anymore, PM me

to see the world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wildflower; hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour ~william blakewithout music life would be a mistake ~nietzsche

OK I don't know what my problem is, but I'm completely confused with the format we're going to use. I see lots of suggestions but I'm just not "getting" it - must be leftover food-hangover brain.

Length: 6 weeks(I think we're all pretty much in favor of a shorter timespan, right?)Points: still tracking? 10 possible per day?(I like the idea of tracking points since I need that gratification/accountability but I'm not a fan of winners vs losers. Mostly because I suck at sending things to the winners and I don't want to feel guilty for not getting around to it AGAIN)Daily goals: Mostly the same as before? I see not many people like the dairy/tea point. Should we have 5 "standard" goals and then each person gets to create the rest on their own, based on their personal goals?Weekly goals/WC: community or personal?

to see the world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wildflower; hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour ~william blakewithout music life would be a mistake ~nietzsche

SeattleLisa wrote:Can I say I had a Bike Bragging Day today? It doesn't feel like bragging when it was a paltry 3 miles and I got my ass handed to me TWICE! AGAIN! on the last hill to get back home. I almost didn't go cycling, I just didn't feel like it but thank God for Hubby. He was very sweet but wouldn't take no for an answer. So in the end, it *was* really tough BUT I DID IT ANYWAY! Our next bike ride is planned for Sunday.

I have missed my BIKE BRAGGIN BITCH!!!!! Great job!!! I will get on the treadmill tomorrow. Text me to make sure I do it.

Oh, thank you, Love! I just texted you. Your ass better be on that treadmill!

I wish I could commit to being your accountability partner but I can only reliably text early in the morning or in the evening. It's nearly impossible to text from work. I think it's just going to be a very big challenge for me to fully participate in the new LTT Challenge and I'd hate to let you down by not staying in contact enough as your AP. ?? Sorry.

OK I don't know what my problem is, but I'm completely confused with the format we're going to use. I see lots of suggestions but I'm just not "getting" it - must be leftover food-hangover brain.

Length: 6 weeks(I think we're all pretty much in favor of a shorter timespan, right?)Points: still tracking? 10 possible per day?(I like the idea of tracking points since I need that gratification/accountability but I'm not a fan of winners vs losers. Mostly because I suck at sending things to the winners and I don't want to feel guilty for not getting around to it AGAIN)Daily goals: Mostly the same as before? I see not many people like the dairy/tea point. Should we have 5 "standard" goals and then each person gets to create the rest on their own, based on their personal goals?Weekly goals/WC: community or personal?

I like the 6 weeks, too. I get really competitive (with GINA!) so I like having points winners but I don't think there should be any prizes. I like 5 group goals and 5 personal goals. I also like Abs' ideas about the acts of kindness.